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When Agustin Castillo heard about HeartScan as a new student at Union College, it seemed like an easy way to simplify his life.

“All the uWorships and uGathers seemed like a lot,” he explained. “I originally joined HeartScan to get rid of the worship credits.”

As part of building a deeper community that makes faith the foundation of the learning experience, Union requires students to attend a certain number of worship events each semester — ranging from campus-wise chapels to small Bible study groups.

HeartScan provides an alternative for students who want to delve more deeply into their spiritual growth with the help of an employee mentor. At first, Castillo felt this was a preferable alternative to ensuring he attended enough events — but soon he discovered a lot more.

“At the beginning I saw that Augustin was a little anxious,” said Santi Fernadez, Castillo’s HeartScan mentor. At the time Fernadez served as a life coach on the Student Success team and has since transitioned to assistant dean of men. “Augustin was unsure of what to expect with college life. When we started going through our meetings, he would expect me to lead. But as the semester progressed, he started leading.”

Students and mentors meet on a regular basis to build a spiritual growth plan focusing on four key areas: personal worship, corporate worship, service and calling. For Castillo and Fernandez, this meant studying a devotional book about the lives of Bible characters and their relationships with God. But their talks grew well beyond the book.

“I realized we could have deep conversations,” said Castillo. “If I was struggling with school, he was a person I could talk to. He is a staff member, but I consider him a really good friend too.”

The same proved true for Fernandez that next summer when his grandmother lay on her deathbed. Completely discouraged, he prayed for a sign that God was still near.

Then his phone chimed with a text from Castillo: “You’re in my heart. How are you doing?”

“It’s summer and we usually don’t have a lot of contact with students,” said Fernandez. “To see that spiritual maturity to reach out to me like that. Yeah, he’s definitely leading now.”

Castillo has noticed the difference too. He remembered his mother’s words growing up. “God is with you,” she said. “As long as you want Him there, He will be there.”

“Theoretically I have always know that. but I have I’ve always struggled to actually feel it,” said Castillo. “Even though I read my Bible in the mornings and in the evenings and I prayed,  I never actually had that vivid relationship with Him until that year.”

After two years with Fernandez as a HeartScan mentor, Castillo has stepped aside to let other students have the same experience. Now working as a student dean in Prescott Hall, he tries to mentor the men in the dorm.

This leadership role comes as no surprise to Fernandez.  “I think the time that we spent in Heartscan has already shown that he can be a leader,” said Fernandez. “I remember watching him help students move into the dorm. He wasn’t just carrying their luggage, he was taking the time to get to know them.”

“Sometimes guys come to me and ask me a lot of the same questions I used to ask Santi,” Castillo explained. “I don’t always have the answers, but through my time in HeartScan, I actually learned a lot more about myself — which gave me confidence when relating to the guys and leading out in the dorm.” In the process of trying to get easy worship credits, Castillo found an unexpected path to spiritual growth and leadership.

by Ryan Teller, executive director for Integrated Marketing Communications. This article was first published in the Nov/Dec issue of Outlook magazine (https://outlookmag.org)